Nutmeggers movin’ on out

Connecticut has the seventh highest percentage of movers shipping out of the state in the nation, according to a recent study released by a moving company.

United Van Lines conducts a survey each year, tracking which states the company’s customers move into and out of over the course of a year, and found that 56 percent of the moves it performed in Connecticut during 2012 were customers movin’ on out.

Most of the cities with the top outbound populations can be found along the east coast, according to the moving company, which noted that “The Northeast is the most well-represented region on the high-outbound traffic list. In addition to New Jersey, New York (58 percent), Maine (56 percent) and Connecticut (56 percent) are also included” on its website.

So who took the cake? Here’s the list of the top five states movers are leaving:

New Jersey – 62.3 percent

Illinois – 59.5 percent

West Virginia – 57.9 percent

New York – 57.7 percent

New Mexico – 57.6 percent

Washington, D.C., had the highest rate of in-migration, where 64 percent of moves were for people moving into the city. Surprisingly, Oregon came in second, with 61 percent of moves commissioned for new state residents.

The company has been conducting this study since 1977, and this year’s analysis included data from more than 125,000 moves, according to United. They defined states as “high inbound” if 55 percent or more of the moves are going into a state and “high outbound” if 55 percent or more moves were coming out of a state or “balanced” if the difference of inbound and outbound is negligible.

While the 56 percent may sound like a lot for Connecticut, the state shouldn’t worry about creating an ad campaign just yet; the 1,991 outbound Nutmmegers represent less than 1/20th of a percent of Connecticut’s population. Read more.

Are you surprised? Or have you seen it happen again and again? Let us know in the comments section below.